Marriage Shouldn't be Defined on Gender; It Should be Defined on Love

Same sex marriages have become more and more of a popular social issue. Recently, New York just passed the law allowing same-sex marriages in that state. (Personally I figured New York would have done that a lot sooner.) But as same sex marriages gain more popularity, the more people against it will raise their voice.

One of the most insanely stupid arguments against it (in my opinion) is that kids will be confused on gender roles. Umm...no they won’t. Even as a gay couple, you can teach your kids that a man and a woman pro-create. Kids wouldn’t be confused on who they should marry because after all, they’ll be attracted to whoever the feel attraction towards; not who they see together in a society. Kids will grow up knowing what is acceptable and unacceptable or common and uncommon in society by 1) their parents (gay or straight) will teach them and 2) they will grow up and learn things on their own.

Another argument suggests that gay marriage will weaken the institution of marriage. Well I know divorce is legal…but doesn’t that weaken the institution of marriage? At least with gay marriage, the couple loves each other. How could love (what marriage is all about) weaken marriage?! But people who get married and decide to get a divorce, which entirely weakens marriage due to the fact that it’s obviously showing marriage doesn’t mean forever to that couple, is totally legal. How is that fair?

I’m not saying people who divorce are bad people, because they aren’t. They just shouldn’t have gotten married in the first place because they should’ve known they didn’t want to be together forever like a marriage should be.

Some people are against it because they believe gays are unable to form lasting relationships. Well this is also true in a straight society. But as we all age, we find who it is that we love and hold onto them. People against gay rights in general also say that because (prominently through homosexual males) that the spread of STI’s and AIDS is increased. But this is where legalizing gay marriage would help. If a homosexual couple was allowed to get married then they would only be with one person, not spreading any diseases to anyone else; thus, making the STI and AIDS rate go down.

Gay marriage doesn’t hurt society or anyone in particular. If two people are in love (whether they are of opposite sex or the same sex) and firmly believe that they will feel this way forever and plan to be each other’s best friends for the rest of their lives, why can’t they make it official?

I know they are plenty of straight married couples who love knowing that they are married to their best friend and showing of their ring when they get engaged. Gay couples should be able to do the same.

Marriage shouldn’t be denied to those who are in love. It’s just completely unfair. Everyone deserves to love and be loved in return. With that, they also deserve to be officially known as a married couple.

By the way, I found a quote the other day talking about homophobia that really had a great message. It went something like this “Homosexuality is found in over 450 species. Homophobia is only found in one. Which one seems unnatural now?”

It's Annoying When Your Lack of Productivity is Forced Upon Other People

Recently there has been a lot of talk about cyber-bullying. The people who participate in cyber-bullying annoy me to an unbelievable extent.

You do realize that you’re being extremely cowardly? Like, legitimately. You so obviously do not have the guts to go up to someone and state your opinion. Instead, you go online, anonymously or not, and say it. That totally means you’re a coward. You’re also not cool, probably don’t have many loyal friends, and undoubtedly have a low self-esteem.

Yes, we all have opinions on other people. But I don’t sit there and type them out in such vulgar language or such hurtful language. The fact is I don’t even talk about it. Do you know why? Because voicing rude opinions has zero importance. Nobody cares!

We’re in high school, kids. That means we are still working so desperately hard to find ourselves. So for the online bullies trying to bash someone else, you’re doing so much damage to those who don’t have the level of confidence for self-esteem to handle that. (Not saying that those victims are weak in any way. After all, we are still working on finding ourselves and growing up)

People that bully others are really annoying. They evidently have such an entirely boring life that they have to put themselves in everyone else’s life. If you don’t like that person so much that you want to write mean things about them, then that means you apparently like them enough to try and make them notice you. The people I don’t like hardly ever cross my mind. Why? Because if I don’t like them then why would I waste my time thinking about them?...

But seriously, bullies are pathetic and annoying. Grow up children. You are acting as though you’re still in elementary. We’re about to head off to college and you’re sitting there being immature and dramatic. If you continue that lifestyle, you’re going to get nowhere in the real world. Everyone will leave your rude comments and actions behind them and move on to bigger and better things. And you’ll be sitting there on the computer thinking you’re just so funny and tough.

REALITY CHECK TO BULLIES: You’re wasting your time.

Do something with your life that will make you proud. If you can’t do it for yourself, then do it for your ill grandmother; do it for your father overseas; do it to set a good example for your siblings; do it for your hard-working mother; do it for your future.

That's When Dentists Scream and Lose Their Patience/Patients?

Whenever I’m in a good mood or want to be in a good mood I find myself listening to a lot of Owl City. They’re best known for “Fireflies” and “Vanilla Twilight”.

But I found a cute one from that same album the previous two songs were from (Ocean Eyes) called “Dental Care”.  The lyrics are as follows:

I brush my teeth and look in the mirror
And laugh out loud as I'm beaming from ear to ear
I'd rather pick flowers instead of fights
And rather than flaunt my style
I'd flash you a smile of clean pearly whites

I've been to the dentist a thousand times
So I know the drill, I smooth my hair
Sit back in the chair
But somehow I still get the chills

"Have a seat", he says pleasantly
As he shakes my hand and practically laughs at me
"Open up nice and wide", he says peering in
And with a smirk he says, "Don't have a fit
This'll just pinch a bit", as he tries not to grin

When hygienists leave on long vacations
That's when dentists scream
And lose their patience

Talking only brings the toothaches on
Because I say the stupidest things
So if my result goes south
I'll swallow my pride with an Aspirin
And shut my mouth

Golf and alcohol don't mix
And that's why I don't drink and drive
Because good grief, I'd knock out my teeth
And have to kiss my smile goodbye

I've been to the dentist a thousand times
So I know the drill, I smooth my hair
Sit back in the chair
But somehow I still get the chills

I love how a lot of these lyrics have double meanings.

Example #1: When hygienists leave on long vacations
That's when dentists scream
And lose their patience

Now, you can take that exactly as it’s written and be like, oh okay. But when I was listening to the song a while ago and not paying attention to how it was written, you could potentially have a difference in patience (as in patients). So if the dentist is screaming, it’s obvious he’s losing his patience. But also if he was screaming, he’d definitely lose some patients.

Example #2: Golf and alcohol don't mix
And that's why I don't drink and drive
Because good grief, I'd knock out my teeth
And have to kiss my smile goodbye

Again, this could be taken exactly as is saying that golf and alcohol would be a bad combination because his drive from his golf club might knock out his teeth. But if you take out the golf idea completely and pay attention to only the last three lines of that section, you could get the sense he is either against drinking and driving (who isn’t though?) or trying to send a message that it’s a bad idea to drink and drive.

There could be other examples in that song but I haven’t had an epiphany over any other yet. But every time I listen to this song I think it’s cool how they put those in there. I don’t know if they meant to have double meanings or not but either way, it makes the song more enjoyable.

And here’s the video with lyrics if you wanted to hear it as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlTMx075_UA

And on a completely unrelated note, I love having the use of Google. You can look up anything and everything you want. It’s so helpful and I’m glad we have awesome enough technology to have Google.

Everyone Should be Entitled to Their Own Rights

There’s huge debate between many individuals over whether or not abortion is right. Some are “pro-life” meaning they are against abortion while others are “pro-choice” meaning that they believe the woman should have the right to make her own decision.

Those who believe pro-life is the way to go often make their decision based upon these ideas: “You’re murdering an innocent life.” “There are plenty of ways to not become pregnant, like birth control or abstinence.” “People spend so much time on waiting lists to adopt a child.”

Personally, I’m totally pro-choice. I believe it is the woman’s decision. She’s not necessarily killing an innocent life; if abortion happens within 21 days of conception, the baby’s heart hasn’t even started beating says abortionfacts.com.  They also say brain functioning doesn’t happen until about 40 days after conception. So generally, that “child” isn’t even living so you’re not taking away life.

I do agree, there are definitely ways to avoid becoming pregnant in the first place, but in the case of rape that is an entirely different story. If a woman was raped, why would she want to keep that child as a reminder of what had happened to her? Even if she gave it up for adoption, just knowing she had a child that came from the man who raped her would probably be scarring enough.

It’s true that people spend a lot of time on adopting waiting lists. But, have they heard the saying ‘beggars can’t be choosers’?  I understand the want for an innocent, newborn baby. But don’t sit there and make a woman feel bad for not putting a child up for adoption when there are plenty of foster homes out there with kids just begging for a home. Those kids are sick of not knowing what it is like to have a family. So those on adoption waiting lists are just looking past those needy children for their own selfish desire.

Not that I’m against adoption waiting lists. I do understand, but I don’t think it’s a fair argument at all when you bring an aborted child into that picture.

My argument for pro-choice is this: it is all up to the woman. Most of the time, it is young girls getting pregnant and considering abortion. 9 times out of 10 they aren’t going to be able to support a child. So if they had the kid and couldn’t keep up on bills, didn’t have enough food, and just had a horrible lifestyle, that isn’t a good situation to put a kid in. That child would grow up with cruelty from his peers just because of his background. Why would you want to put a kid through that?

Adoption also has its downsides. The child could wind up not being adopted and put in foster home after foster home (or adoption home) and grow up with a life of crime and depression. Not only do they struggle within the care center, but once they ‘age out’ (become 18 and live on their own) they struggle then too. According to fostercarealumni.org in 2005 ‘aged-out’ kids had only 54% earn a high school degree, 2% got a bachelor’s degree or higher, 51% were unemployed, 30% had no health insurance, 25% have been homeless, and 30% were receiving public assistance. To me, this is also a terrible way to end up.

I don’t disrespect anyone who is pro-life. It’s their own opinion and it’s not right or wrong. But I personally believe that everyone is entitled to their own rights. Just because someone doesn’t agree with your actions, doesn’t mean you’re wrong.

I think for those who like having their own rights, they should not try and take away others. Don’t expect to be supported by those who you would not support.

Don't Think I'm Above Smashing Clocks...

One of the most annoying things ever: You're sleeping so well and then you wake up and check the clock. This is when you realize you have just woken up 5 minutes before your alarm is going to go off. What. The. Heck.

You obviously can't just get up. Then the clock wins. So you lay there, get all warm and sleepy again and then...(INSERT ALARM HERE). It sucks so much.

On the flip side of that though, nothing is better than waking up and realizing you have 2 or more hours left of sleep :)

SUB CLUB

Here at Kennedy we have a thing called sub club for the swim team. Sub club means you get under 1:00 in your 100 free. Most average to fast swimmers swim in the range of 1:01 to 1:10. You're a great swimmer if you're in sub club.

Currently we have about 7 people in sub club, our highest number of sub club members in our coach's memory of coaching for Kennedy. I am at 1:01.80. I plan to get sub club before my high school swimming career is over...which means I have only 3 more meets to accomplish that.

Sub club is a very great honor to achieve and the whole team congratulates each new member. It's a fun and competitive goal each swimmer strives for.

Stressed Students

I recently read a really good blog (http://forkednighties.blogspot.com/) and one of her posts was about how the pressure to succeed for this generation’s youth is so much higher than it used to be. She goes on to say that college students are checking into a form of therapeutic office on campus so much so that there are too many patients.

Kids these days have really got it hard as far as education goes. Now the new average is a B, A students are pretty smart, and A+ kids with over 4.0 (which really shouldn’t even be possible) are the ones who’ve got it made for their future. Kids (and by kids I mean young high school/college students) are getting loads of homework a night and often have to get tutors just to keep up. There are many high school students that stay up until midnight or later just to finish their homework after their extra-curricular activities. Most have to wait until the weekend to actually see their friends but sometimes, they already have work or sports or music taking place of that.

The Associated Press released a study on young people’s anxiety on January 28^th of 2010 with one professor saying "It's another piece of the puzzle — that yes, this does seem to be a problem, that there are more young people who report anxiety and depression," says Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychology professor.

Now, whether this means kids are just being more open about it in this decade or whether they do have more problems and stress is up for debate. Personally, I believe kids my age get way more pressure to become successful than in previous generations. Not only do we have to be smart in school, but we have to have a high degree in order to just get into middle-class jobs. A lot more is on the line now than before and I think there are plenty of kids who are feeling the stress from it.